


Falling Through The Waves of Emotions

by 2ollux



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Anxiety, Chaptered, College, Eventual Davekat, Eventual Relationships, Fluff, Hot Weather, Humanstuck, M/M, Multiple chapters, Ocean, Summer, anxiety attack, beach, hydrophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6550192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2ollux/pseuds/2ollux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave pulls his hands out from his pockets, and begins to pull off his shoes as he walks towards the ocean. Grasping the bottom of his white T-shirt, he pulls it over his head cleanly, and tosses the article of clothing onto the ground only a few feet away from his shoes. Wearing only his shorts now, Dave's pace picks up. Soon enough, he's gone from a slow jog to a sprint, darting towards the ocean. Feeling the sand underneath his bare feet and between his toes, he stumbles forward. This only pushes him on, trying to run faster. Hands stretched outwards to help balance himself, Dave continues towards the ocean. Before he knows it, he has reached the end of the sand and is standing inches away from the water. As Dave gets ready to jump, he stops. Looking into the moonlit water, he sees his reflection- hair tussled, and face appearing emotionless behind his sunglasses. </p><p>Dave can't do it. He can't jump in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friendly Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> This will be a multi-chaptered Davekat fanfic. I will be updating as often as I can, most likely on the weekends more so than on other days. Anyways, hope you guys like the start of this fic! Please do leave comments, as well as dropping kudos if you like it! If you have any tips what so ever, please do tell! I would love to strengthen myself as a writer, as well as make future fics be even better. 
> 
> With that being said, I am posting this in honor of 413. Happy Birthday, Homestuck! We love you.

The night air was warm and muggy. The sidewalks were covered with walking people, on their way to important dates. The sidewalks were filled with slumping people, talking, laughing, and enjoying life. They were filled with packs of teenagers carrying shopping bags, and bearded homeless men cowering under shop awnings. Flashing lights bounced off of their faces and building fronts. Tall business men dressed in black suites sped by inside of their cars, talking on their cellphones and bluetooths.  
  
Stars scattered across the night sky, twinkling and smiling down on the world. The moon shone overhead, illuminating the lake. Waves rippled across the water with each gust of wind, while seagulls picked at the washed up vegetation and squawked at one another. A couple walked down the beach, kicking at the sand, their laughs echoing down the shoreline.  
  
Sitting on the rocks bordering the beach, was none other than a Dave Strider. Blond hair flutters in the warm breeze, tangling ever so slightly. Toes curled in and out of the sand, hands picking up the tiny grains, letting them filter through each finger. Dave counted each shell that surrounded him, once, twice, three times. Procrastination is what he does best. Procrastinating from the real world. Trying to waste time down by the beach at 9 at night, rather than going to the party that Dave said he’d defiantly be at tonight. It’s not that Dave doesn’t enjoy being around his friends- he loves them. He loves his friend’s that he’s known since he was five years old, and he loves his friends that he just made during his first few months of college. He procrastinates because they haven’t matured at all. They haven’t matured enough to realize that there is other things in life then just staying inside of their dorms and apartments, and getting drunk at parties. _‘Life is about living through different experiences, and not the same ones over and over again,’_ Dave thinks. He shouldn’t feel guilty for ditching another party, if anything he should be proud of himself. He’s doing something that makes him even more happy than parties. He’s actually living his life, unlike most people.  
  
By the time Dave had gotten back to his apartment, it was nearing dawn. _‘Thank God it’s the weekend,’_ Dave thought, _‘I couldn’t bare to wake up at eight to go to class in the morning’_. His mouth opens, letting a yawn escape from it. Shrugging his leather jacket off, he throws it across the small couch and heads to his bedroom. Stripping down to just his boxers, Dave flings himself into his bed. _‘It’s been a long day of doing nothing,’_ Dave smiles to himself as he feels his eyelids growing heavier and heavier with each breath.  
  
xxx  
  
Hot, sticky saliva drips into Dave’s ear, making him twitch in annoyance. “Hey cool kid, wake up!”  
  
“Fuck off, ‘rezi. I don’t want to hear it,” Dave mumbles, while he rotates himself to face away from the sharp girl. Terezi was sharp in more ways than one. She had filed her teeth into points to intimidate people, as well as making it easier for her to “bite bigger chunks out of your body with!” or so she claims. Her hair is messy, but in a sharp way. Each layer is hair-sprayed to make it appear more pointed, and it barely moves atop of her head (Which is surprising, seeing how spastic she always was). If Terezi weren’t blind, she would be the type of person to put pointed wings on her eyeliner, and she would wear lipstick to match her vibrant clothes. Sharp in her comebacks and in book smarts, Terezi was someone to be described as, “On point”.  
  
Feeling a large weight falling on him, Dave lets out a groan and pushed Terezi off of him and his bed. “What time is it even, anyways? Why the fuck are you waking me up on a Saturday? I could be getting all kinds of my sleep on right now.” Crazy cackling fills the room, bouncing off of the walls and making Dave dizzy.  
  
“Hahaha, cool kid, that is just too good!” She continues to laugh like a maniac until she notices the blond looking at her confused. “Oh. You weren’t kidding. Well, It’s about four in the afternoon and you were supposed to meet me and Vriska at a movie but you never showed, so I figured I’d come check up on you.”  
  
“Why wouldn’t you just text or call me?”  
  
“We tried, but you weren’t responding.”  
  
“Also, when the fuck did I say that I would go to a movie with you guys? I don’t even like Vriska, and after the quick glance at my phone, I see no calls. What do you really want Terezi?” Dave sighs out.  
  
Her smile formed into a thin line, and she looked down at the ground sheepishly. “Well, actually Dave, I have to ask something of you.” Dave arches a single, blond eyebrow, as Terezi clears her throat. “I have a cousin who’s coming up from another state to go to school here, and he needs someone to show him around the place.”  
  
Dave begins to climb out of bed, pulling on a pair of jeans. “Ughhh, why can't you do it? I have better things to be doing with my time rather than acting like some tour guide in Italy, pointing out the first store to have baked a peasant bread and sold it for twenty five cents.” He’s glad that Terezi is blind and she can’t judge the fact that his boxers have tiny fireflies printed all over them.  
  
“Because I’m not going to be available in the next hour to do it, silly!” Dave nearly chokes on the water that was left on his nightstand.  
  
“What do you mean, ‘in the next hour’?!”  
  
“I mean that ‘in the next hour’, you need to-“  
  
“Shut the fuck up and get out of my room.” Terezi looks shocked, and hurt.  
  
“But-“ Dave walks over to her and hugs her tightly.  
  
“You’re lucky you’ve been a good friend of mine since we were little, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this for you,” Terezi begins to grin wildly again, her blue hue eyes sparkling with her usual mischievous. “…but I am serious. Get out of my room. I need time to get ready.”  
  
xxx  
  
An hour and fifteen minutes later, Dave is bolting out of his apartment towards the college’s campus. _"’in the next hour’, my ass. Who the fuck asks someone for something so big last minute like that?’’_ Dave internally groans out. _‘I can’t believe I actually agreed to this,'_ he begins to slow his pace down as he reaches the street that the college is on. Dave decided not to live on campus for his own reasoning, believing that it would be less likely that he would be kicked out of school if he weren’t living on the premisses. Not that Dave did many bad things- it’s just that he enjoys to make his own music, and being loud isn’t exactly something that people who are studying around you want.  
  
Glancing towards the sky, Dave sees that it is a beautiful day.He can hear the birds chirping, and the sound of people talking as he grows nearer to the school buildings. _‘It’s the weekend, I should be down at the beach, not here of all places,’_ Dave looks up towards the large glass doors and pauses outside for a moment. Seeing his reflection, he smooths his hair down from the wind, and adjusts his shades so they are no longer crooked on his face. Pushing himself inside of the doors, all is quiet. Faint clicking sounds can be heard, and hushed talking. The air conditioning is on inside of the building, which Dave does not like. To him, it always felt like ‘canned-air’, and artificial. Spending too much time inside of an air conditioned room makes him feel nauseous. Open a window, let the real breeze flow through. Nobody feels sick to their stomachs that way.  
  
Making his way to the front offices, Dave spots his English teacher, Mr. Naks. ‘hehe, look, it’s Naks. Naknaknak.’ he chuckles to himself, as Mr. Naks begins talking.  
  
“So Dave. This here is the new kid.” Mr. Naks motions to a small, sleep deprived looking human. Somehow, Dave had managed to completely miss that he was standing there this entire time, scowl present on his face. The new kid abruptly sticks a hand out for Dave to shake.  
  
“Hey,” before Dave can finish introducing himself, he learns that the new kid is not a patient person. The new kid opens his mouth, his canines looking too sharp, too pointy, and almost surreal-like. The pointedness of them reminds Dave that Terezi is related to the guy standing in front of him.  
  
“Hey fucknubs.” Dave widens his eyes in surprise, but takes no offense. _‘Oh, this kid is just too good!’_ , Dave thinks as the corners of his mouth turn up slightly into the start of a small grin.  
  
“Karkat! That’s not how you’re supposed to refer to people!” The teacher looks like he’s already been through this lecture with the so-called “Karkat”.  
  
“Well sorry, Mr. Naks, but this blond douche just so happened to not tell me what his name is. How else should I have handled that situation?”  
  
“By asking him what his name was. Just, get out of here. Dave, show him around the school and campus. Karkat here shares the same minor as you, so you should be seeing him around in the near future once he begins classes. For now, get to know each other. I’m sure that you’ll get along just great.” Dave can’t help but to notice the sarcasm that’s dripping off of the last sentence. _‘“You’ll get along great”, what a jackass,’_ Dave scoffs at him. He looks over at Karkat, and sees him looking at him expectantly.  
  
“Oh shit, yeah. Here, follow me,” Dave turns on his heels and begins to walk back to where he had entered the building. “So uh, what made you decide to come here?” After a moment of silence, he notices that there is no longer the soft pattering of Karkat’s feet behind him, but instead his too-high-toned voice is heard.  
  
“No. No, no, no, NO. I do NOT play that game.” Dave arches an eyebrow at him, questioningly. Karkat sighs, and runs one of his hands through his black hair. “I meant that I don’t play the twenty-q game. I hate small talk. If you wanna talk, lets make it meaningful, got it?”  
  
“Shit man, don’t you think that’s a bit heavy for only just meeting you, like within the past five minutes?” Karkat audibly groans, a deep rumble coming from his throat.  
  
“No, fuckass. I meant in the future. For now, just shut the fuck up and do what you’re supposed to be doing.”  
  
“Which is what, exactly?” Dave smirks. In general, he tends to enjoy making conversations stretch out much more longer than they should be, and watch how people react differently from one another. Some people get irritated right away. Other people don’t seem to mind, or they genuinely think that Dave is incomprehensible. He prefers it when he gets a small rally out of someone, which usually leads to making a new friend. If you can put up with Dave’s idiotic questions, you are Strider-worthy. It looks like it’s Dave’s lucky day- he’s managed to make Karkat react in the first way.  
  
“DON’T even START with me, okay?!” Karkat’s hands are balled into tight fists at his sides now, and his face is flushing red from anger. Dave puts his hands up in the air defensivly, and chuckles.  
  
“Okay, okay, I get it. I won’t start anything with you unless it’s a date,” Karkat’s blush is no longer out of anger, but out of pure embarrassment. _‘Perfect,’_ Dave thinks. Now that he has Karkat off of his ass for being angry at him, things will be less tense in the air and they can move forth with the day much easier, or so he thinks.  
  
xxx  
  
“So, how long have you known Terezi for?” The small café is quiet. It’s around one in the afternoon, and for the most part people don’t go out to get coffee at that time. It’s just Dave and Karkat sitting at a back table, with the occasional person coming in to order a drink, and then head back out into the busy world.  
  
“I thought you said all questions had to be meaningful,” Dave inquires. He looks into his cup of cinnamon apple tea, and pokes at the tea bag with a stirring stick.  
  
“Well yes, but this one IS meaningful. I’m asking a question about my cousin, not what the weathers like outside today, or if you made your bed this morning.” Karkat grumbles, shifting inside of his chair.  
  
“Heh, well… I would say that I’ve known her since I was about seven or eight years old. I transferred schools because my brother pulled me out of the current one I was in, for some strange reason. He was always doing that. Pulling me out of schools, and moving around. I met Terezi then, and we kicked it off immediately. She loved the fact that I wore red. She said it was her favorite color because it smelled and tasted the best.”  
  
“Yeah that sounds like her.” Dave puts a fist in front of his mouth, and chuckles into it.  
  
“I suppose you’re right. She’s really fucking weird to be honest, but I think that’s why I love her so much. She’s like a sister to me.” Dave admits.  
  
“Yeah she’s like a cousin to me, so I get that feeling.”  
  
“But she IS your cousin…” Karkat begins laughing, tipping forward a little in his seat. His laugh is contagious. His laugh makes Dave want to laugh with him, and hear more of the sound that is emitting from his throat.  
  
“Exactly! That’s what makes what I said so funny.” Dave finds that no, what he said really wasn’t all that funny. But, seeing Karkat giggling like a little school girl is what is making him smile. He nods his head to show agreement with Karkat, even if he found his joke to be less than satisfactory. Once he’s collected himself, he continues with his question. “So are you guys good friends?”  
  
“We’re good enough friends that I agreed to be your tour guide an hour before I even met you.”


	2. Idiots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter everyone! I am going on a vacation, and won't be able to update for a week at the least. But I will be back, do not worry!
> 
> For now, here is a short, cute chapter that will hopefully make you smile!

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, Dave unlocks his apartment door. Walking inside of his room, he throws his keys on the table and slumps down onto his couch. ‘Today’s been a long day,’ he thinks. Getting to meet Karkat was fun. His personality was different from anyone else that he had met before. The kid wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions, not in the slightest. Karkat likes the color grey. (Fuck you, it is a great color. The color red sucks so hard that vacuums no longer need to exist). Karkat also wasn’t afraid to pick on Dave. Most people think that they have to act cool around him, and try to impress him. Dave isn’t sure why exactly, but as long as he can remember, it’s always been that way. Karkat hadn't kissed Dave’s feet though. He was different- In a matter of fact, Dave was the one who bought Karkat his drink, and held the door from him during their outing. Dave could have been as “kissing said ones feet”. But that was just the way that Dave was. Well mannered, polite. Dave believed that he had a good heart. He cared, even if he didn’t always show it.  
  
Karkat was a good change in Dave’s life. He enjoyed the feeling of being treated like a mutual. He felt respected, but the things that Karkat had done weren’t over the top. Karkat complimented Dave’s sense of humor, and how light and free flowing his hair looked. (Flowing being his words exactly, not Dave’s. Dave wouldn’t be caught dead using the word flowing, unless it was for ironic purposes, of course).  
  
Grabbing his phone off of the armrest, Dave clicks on the most used contact that he has in his phone. Three rings into his call, he is quickly answered. Heavy breathing can be head through the speaker, and Dave smiles. He can practically feel the girl’s spit through the phone as she talks to loud, too close to the speaker.  
  
“Davey!”  
  
“Hey, ‘Rezi.”  
  
“So what’s up? What did you think of my lil’ cousin, hmm?” Dave can hear her cackling on the other side of the line. Karkat didn’t appear to be younger than her, but, she could be talking about his height… yeah. More likely than not Terezi was referring to Karkat’s height. Chuckling, Dave responds.  
  
“Yeah, he was alright. Did you know that he knows Egderp?”  
  
“Well of course I knew that. He is my cousin after all. I had dragged him along to one of Vriska’s parties, and it just so happened that John was there that night. They kicked it off really well, actually. But, I’m pretty sure that John likes him more than Karkat likes him. Egbert is so excitable, it’s almost pathetic!” Terezi is _still_ laughing, and even more is that is even possible.  
  
“Yeah, I got that vibe too,” Dave chuckles, looking at the picture on the wall across from him. “Karkat said that John texts him often, but he usually ignores them. He finds the kid clingy I guess. I honestly think that John is the perfect amount of clingy.”  
  
The picture that Dave was looking at was a photo of himself as a kid, with his older brother, Dirk. They had gotten along for the most part, both sharing some of the same hobbies. The two brothers shared the love of playing with sharp objects, and the two of them had decided to pick up a fencing class. Learning a few of the basics, they dropped out and practiced with each other, getting quite good at the sport.  
  
“Hahaha, yeah I bet you do like his clinginess, huh Strider? You like it when he runs up from behind you and wraps his arms up and around your chest so you can feel his-“  
  
“Whoa there Terezi, you’re getting a bit too graphic there. But yeah, something along those lines. I do enjoy John. Anyways, what way does Karkat sway?”  
  
“I’m digging your rhymes! ‘ways, and sway. You’re so silly Dave.”  
  
“Of course you are digging what I have say. I mean, nobody’s rhymes are as ill as Dave’s, nobody’s rhymes are better at concert raves. Dave’s rhymes are sicker than a horse that’s in colic, so sick that I make all of the girl’s frolic. His rhymes make people all over the world faint, and scribble my name in giant letters across buildings in red paint.”  
  
“Strider oh my GOD, you are killing me! Just shut up for a minute, your rhymes aren’t even that good.” Dave obliges to her request, but completely disagrees with his rhymes not being good. His rhymes are the _best_. “But to answer your question from earlier, Karkles is pretty open about his sexuality. Why don’t you ask him for yourself? Or do you not want to ask him because your afraid that he’ll figure out that you like him?”  
  
“Jesus shits, Terezi, why do you always assume things? Maybe a guy is curious, and not always trying to get in someone’s pants, ever think of that?”  
  
“Yeah, but no” ‘ _What type of sentence even was that?_ ’ Dave shakes the thought away. Terezi has always been fucking weird. This shouldn’t be news to him. “Anyways, I gotta get going cool kid. Maybe we can meet up sometime, and go clubbing again soon? We haven’t been in forever! Come to think of it, we haven’t even hung out in general in forever.”  
  
“Yeah, sure, we’ll set something up, alright TZ?” Saying their farewells, Dave gets up and stretches. glancing outside, he sees that there is still some daylight left. _’might as well waste the rest of my night out doing things that I’ll probably end up regretting, rather than staying closed off inside, right?’_ Dave thinks to himself, begging to smile, yet again. Readjusting his sunglasses on his face out of sheer habit, he walks into his bedroom and grabs one of his sketch books. Cramming it into his small backpack, he flings the ironic pink-plaided bag over his shoulder, and exits his apartment.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Dave realizes that Terezi had never answered his question.  
  
xxx  
  
“Hey, my little motherfucker. What’s shaking, bacon?” Scowling, Karkat turns around and looks up, into the tall, lanky person’s eyes.  
  
“Gamzee, for fucks sack, you’ve already asked me that question twice already!”  
  
“Shucks, I did?” Gamzee’s face doesn’t change in the slightest. His dopey smile and sagging red eyes are still staring just to the right of Karkat, and his back is slouched. He shows no signs of registering what Karkat had just said, or what he had said in the past few moments of asking the same question, over and over again.  
  
“Yes, you fucker! When you had said that you wanted to hang out with me, I figured that you would be sober. Hell, Gamzee, I know that you know that I can’t be smoking with you anymore. I’m trying to get better, remember?”  
  
“Haha, yeah. That’s right!” Stumbling backwards, the tall boy falls on the wooden planks of the docks, and decides that where he is now is indeed a suitable place to be sitting. Taking a pack of cigarettes out from his backpack, he lights one up, and offers his best friend one. Quickly, he pulls his hand back when he realizes that the grumpy kid is being serious, and that he really doesn’t want a smoke. “Hey, sorry ‘bout that, motherfucker. Didn’t mean to all up and get your upset, on.” Gamzee apologizes, inhaling smoke through the cancer stick.  
  
Shaking his head, Karkat runs a hand through his hair, sighing audibly through his mouth. “You can be so dense sometimes.” Swinging his legs over the pier edge, Karkat dangles them above the water. Moments pass in silence, and Karkat finds himself thinking back to when him and Dave were getting to know each other at lunch. ’ _Hadn’t Dave said that he knew of a really cool section of this beach, that not many people go to?”_ Smiling, Karkat thinks, ‘ _Maybe he could take me there sometime, before I leave.’_  
  
Dave seemed like a giant fucking douche bag. But, with that being said, he also seemed like a pretty nice guy. After all, he had boughten Karkat his drink. Dave seemed like someone that he could become friends with in the near future, hopefully. They shared an interest in art, and were both minoring in it. Both thought that Mr. Naks was a boring, stuck up shit head who’s hair just _had_ to be fake. No way something that bad could be real. A wig though? Most defiantly an option.  
  
Splashing the water with his toes, Karkat nudges Gamzee’s leg with his own.  
  
“Wanna swim?” He inquires sheepishly, glancing at him through the corner of his eyes. His hair was _not_ a wig like Mr. Naks. No way anyone would sell a wig that looked so crazy and unruly. Gamzee’s hair was twisted and voluminous, and pointing in every direction. His eyelashes were very feminine, and long. His smile was long and thin, and ever-present on his face. Like Terezi’s smile, but not as intimidating. Gamzee was slow moving, and even though he could see (unlike Terezi), he was always bumping into things and getting more lost than Terezi ever could (But seriously, how _hasnt_ she gotten lost already?!). Gamzee had an insane personality, as well as an insane height. Nearing almost 6’4”, He had over a solid foot over Karkat, easily. One thing that the two boys had shared was the lack of body fat on themselves. Gamzee was muscular, and had a crazy fast metabolism. Karkat on the other hand, appeared to be frail, and weak.  
  
“Yeah, my brother! I would love to go for a motherfucking swim!” Grabbing Karkat’s hand, he yanks him so that he is standing up, and practically drags him to the end of the pier. The creaking and pattering of feet slamming on the deck can be heard underneath them. ‘ _I have never felt so happy,_ ’ Karkat laughs, squeezing Gamzee’s hand harder as his pace fastens, so he is no longer be dragged by the lanky man.  
  
Smiling, the two best friends jump into the water.


	3. Strange Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick trigger warning before you read this chapter, there is a small anxiety attack in here. If those sorts of things don't bother you, read away.

Kicking at the rocks in the gravel, Dave continues to keep his eyes on the ground as he walks down the streets. Communicating with people isn’t something that he exactly wants to do right now. After his conversation with his brother that he had earlier that morning, it put him in a bad mood. Dirk was trying to convince Dave to come home. He doesn’t even really need to come home. All he has to do is switch his college major to make Dirk happy. Like Dirk has said in the past, he only wants the best for Dave. Evidently the best thing for him is to become a doctor and make too much money while he gives up his happiness. Trying to forget their shitty talk, Dave starts thinking of some new beats that he could add into his next track for his music theory class.  
  
Turning around the corner, Dave walks the length of the street and stops at the crosswalk. He waits for the sign to change from red to green, and the glowing stop hand to turn into a little glowing walking man. As people begin to stop and wait around with Dave, he notices a man who was stumbling, and obviously drunk. Not an unusual sight, so Dave kept his face free of emotions, and continued to look ahead. Trying his best to not glance at the man who was getting closer to him, Dave crammed his hands into his jacket. Hand enveloping around a pocket knife, he continued to breath normally, and relaxed his muscles. He appeared as mundane and boring as possible to not draw any attention to him, and hopefully blend into the crowd to his best ability. Being noticed by a man who could be of possible danger is never something that Dave wants to occur. That is one of the worser things about living in the city. More people out walking, which means that there is a higher chance of stumbling across people that you would rather not have met.  
  
Glancing back to his left, Dave begins to hear the man start to create a ruckus. “We’re all going to die! Everyone here is going to die!” Rasping out nonsense, People began moving away from him, trying their best to ignore the man like Dave was already doing. “I see fire! I see smoke! I see every fuckin’ body here bursting into flames!” The man has his hands in front of his body, his palms turned upwards towards the sky. He’s crouching now, and sobbing out even more insanities. As the light changes color, Dave continues onwards, towards his school. _’Just gotta act normal, he’ll leave me alone,’_ He only gets two thirds across the street when he feels a clammy hand, too bony, and too tight, grab his right bicep. Seizing up, Dave spins his body around fast, far too fast, and he comes face to face with the drunken man from seconds before. Now he’s dizzy and scared (Scared? Did I say scared? Striders don’t get scared. Striders may get _nervous_ , but Striders are _never_ scared).  
  
“You!” The terrifying man spits out. He actually _spits_ , and some of it flies over Dave’s shoulder, too close to his face for his own liking. “You believe me, don’t you?” Dave manages to pry the man’s cold hand off of his arm and back away from him, which results in the crazy drunkard coming towards him, yet again. He has shoulder length, greasy, black hair, that smells strongly like Jack Daniels and cheap cigarettes. He’s got on a tattered grey shirt and ripped baggy blue jeans, and old work boots. His boots aren’t tied, and everything that he’s wearing looks at least 3 sizes too big for him. Surprisingly though, this man has all of his teeth. They are yellow and plastered in plaque, but all the same, they’re there. All twenty four of them. (Or so Dave thinks, he can’t see the man’s molars, nor does the thought of asking the man to “open up!” even cross his mind). His teeth look disturbingly sharp, almost like Terezi’s, but somehow they look more intimidating, and more disturbing. This man looks like he’s a rat that’s carrying diseases, far too many diseases and should be dead by now. Laboratories all over the country want to add him to their collections. Behold world, The Rat Man.  
  
Dave is trying his best not to look nervous when he answers him. “Like hell do I believe you. I’m trying to go somewhere important, how about you leave me alone?” The man makes no sign to obliging Dave’s request. He actually steps forwards some, and gets even closer inside of Dave’s personal space. “Actually, I take that back.” Dave sputters out. “That’s not a question, there is no negotiations. You _will_ leave me alone. _Now._ ” Finally, he begins backing away. His face looks like it’s hurt, but only for a split second. Dave may have imagined that though, he’s not entirely sure of what’s been happening for the past couple of minutes. Rat Man turns around and bolts off, crossing back to the other side of the street. He Grabs ahold of a stop sign with both hands, and goes back to yelling insanities, but instead aims them at the top of the inanimate object.  
  
Wondering why the fuck that man had chosen to follow Dave, he turns back around and walks off, a bit faster than he was going before. _’Why did he think that I would believe him? Why not the old blond lady with tight curls who reeked of cat piss and was dressed in all pink? She looked like she would have believed him,’_ Dave ponders, very worryingly. He can feel the start of an oncoming headache, and he isn’t sure if he just groaned internally, or if it had managed to slip out of his mouth. Doing a weak hair flip that was in no way cool, Dave can tell that today will suck.  
  
Continuing to feel uneasy during the rest of his walk to the campus, Dave decides to hail a taxi. Waiting on the edge of the sidewalk, his eyes keep darting to each side of himself furiously, checking for any signs of the strange man coming back. _’Why is this taking so long?’_ He keeps glancing down at his phone to check the time, even though he knows that doing it only makes time seem to pass by even slower. He’s breathing heavier now, that he’s had more time to think about the situation that occurred only moments from before. _’What was he talking about? Why was he so convinced we were all going to die?’_ His anxiety is getting the best of him, and if this goddamn driver doesn’t get here soon, _he’s going to have a motherfucking anxiety attack, right here in the middle of the fucking street._  
  
In reality, it only took Dave approximately three minutes to hail a cab, even though it had felt like it had taken forever. Once inside though, he begins to breath much more normally, and slouches into the black leather seats. Looking down at his feet, Dave tries his best to not think about what had just happened. A very short amount of driving later, he passes the man his money and thanks, and exits the cab. Walking onto the campus, he realizes that he’s earlier than normal. Glancing around, he manages to find an empty tree with nobody around it, and heads towards it. Sitting down on the grass underneath it, Dave’s heartbeat is almost back to normal. Shrugging his bag off of his shoulders, he pulls his sketchpad out and continues on his next idea for his ironic internet comic, _Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff._  
  
Before long, he feels the second hand on his shoulder of the day. This one feels sturdier though, and much more familiar than the first. Feeling a slight upturn of his lips, he quickly makes sure to make them fall back into a non faltering line. Adjusting his aviators, he asks his friend to join him and take a seat, after all, he doesn’t need a reservation, not when he looks so damn fine for the occasion. Receiving a hair ruffle for the comment, Dave immediately brings his hands up to his light blond, almost white hair to try and fix what was just mussed.  
  
Accepting the invitation, John sits down next to him. Lanky limbs curl up into a “criss-crossed” position, and hands settle down on top of his knees. His black hair is short and tussled, and his smile is bright and wide. His glasses were resting low on his nose, and were smudged with many fingerprints. That was one of the best things about John. He never seemed to care about little things that normal people would fuss over. Fingerprints on your glasses? No problem for John. Fingerprints on your laptop screen? Also no problem for John. Buttons in the wrong holes on shirts? That too, is also no problem. Oh look, that’s exactly what he’s wearing today as well. A blue and black plaid shirt that’s off centered on him, and he doesn’t even care, or notice for that matter. Overall, John is oblivious. _His obliviousness is what makes him so charming,_ or so Dave thinks.  
  
“So, why are you so here so early? Finally decide that you wanted to hang out with you’re old pal?”  
  
“As if I wanted to hang out with a four-eyed nerd named Egderp.”  
  
“Hey, you know you love me, admit it!”  
  
“Hey, that was a small crush that I had back in sophomore year, no way was I in love. Love is when the fat fairy with diabetes comes along and shoots you up right in the plump ass cheeks with one of his red heart arrows. Next up, you fall head over heels in adore with the most charming thing that you’ve ever met, which is always going to be, the one and only, Dave motherfucking Strider.” Looking to his left, Dave sees John rolling in the grass, laughing hysterically. Snorts can be heard from him, making his adorableness even more present. Wiping tears from underneath his glasses, he sits himself back up, and takes a deep, shaky inhale of breath.  
  
“Wow, that was too good, Dave! I can’t believe I forgot how funny you are! Why haven’t we hung out recently, again? Remind me, I have zero idea why.” Rolling his eyes, Dave just grins.  
  
“You’re a fucking dork, you know that, right?”  
  
“Not anymore than you are!” sighing, he looks forward and begins to people watch. A comfortable silence settles over them. Mere minutes pass before John opens his mouth again. “Hey, I have a friend that just moved up here, his name is Karkat. I think you’d get a kick out of him. He’s really funny, and a real sweet heart!”  
  
Now it’s Dave’s time to snort. “Oh yeah, I’d love to meet him. You should totally introduce us sometime.” _’A real sweetheart… yeah right”._  
  
“Okay! I’ll text him to meet me after class, and we can all meet up and go get lunch together!” Before Dave has time to say anything else on the matter, John hops up and declares that it’s time for him to get going so he doesn’t miss his lecture. After all, it’s on his favorite subject (Which is cloning sheep, or cloning anything else for that matter).  
  
“Yeah, I should probably get going too. I’ll meet you back here later.” Starting to put his art supplies back into his bag, he looks up to see John smiling at him.  
  
“Okay!” John waves at him, and then begins to run towards the large brick building. _What a fucking nerd,_ shaking his head, Dave stands up and heads off to his only class of the day.  
  
xxx  
  
“Dave, this is Karkat. Karkat, this is Dave!” John is smiling, and nearly bouncing up and down. His enthusiasm never seems to falter, and it’s always made Dave a bit curious to how one person could be so happy all of the time. There’s no way that can be natural. Right? Right. He must be getting spoon fed drugs without his own knowledge. Dave decides that he should really go through John’s belongings at some point to make sure that he isn’t being drugged, for ironic purposes, of course.  
  
“Fuckass, I’ve already met this douchenozzle before. Didn’t he tell you?” Karkat has one black eyebrow arched, and looks like he’s bored to death with the situation at hand already. He’s squinting his brown eyes, which appear to have a red tint to them in the sunlight. ‘ _Beautiful,’_ Dave falters, and readjusts his sunglasses. No way did he just think that, nuh to the uh, nuh uh.  
  
“What? No he didn’t! He said that he hadn’t met you before.” John looks absolutely shocked. Dave laughs. He allows himself to show some emotion, and let his barrier down. The situation is so _fucking ironic_ , how could he not laugh? It would be a disgrace not too.  
  
“Well when you described the kid as a quote unquote sweetheart, I knew we couldn’t be talking about the same person.” Receiving a punch from not only one person, but instead two, Dave raises both his hands up in defense. John and Karkat are both looking at him and shaking their heads, grins on both of their faces.


	4. Sarcasm or Enthusiasm?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this is so late and short guys! Finals have been keeping my pretty tied up lately. Once they're done though, I will be back to trying to post once every week or so. 
> 
> For now, enjoy Dave and Karkat being total dorks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that flies can only take flight backwards?

Walking towards the deep blue, his hands deep inside of his pockets. The roar of the ocean waves was the only thing that could be heard. The sound of the traffic just before the beach was deluded out, almost non existence. Few seagulls were scattered across the land and were drifting lazily over the ocean current. The stars spread from one end of the sky all the way to the other, twinkling bright. 

Dave pulls his hands out from his pockets, and begins to pull off his shoes as he walks towards the ocean. Grasping the bottom of his white T-shirt, he pulls it over his head cleanly, and tosses the article of clothing onto the ground only a few feet away from his shoes. Wearing only his shorts now, Dave's pace picks up. Soon enough, he's gone from a slow jog to a sprint, darting towards the ocean. Feeling the sand underneath his bare feet and between his toes, he stumbles forward. This only pushes him onwards, trying to run faster. Hands stretched outwards to help balance himself, Dave continues towards the ocean. He’s breathing heavy now, air darting inside of his mouth, into his lungs, and then exhaling just as quickly. Before he knows it, he has reached the end of the sand and is standing inches away from the water. As Dave gets ready to jump, his legs extending, he stops. Looking into the moonlit water, he sees his reflection. His hair is tussled, and his face appears emotionless behind his sunglasses. 

Sighing, he realizes that he still can't do it. He can't jump in.

xxx

It’s only been a week since Dave and Karkat had met. They’ve hung out outside of college only once, and with John twice now. The more that Dave hangs out with Karkat, the more that he realizes how much he actually likes being around the crabby little dude. The way that Karkat insults every moving thing one second, and the next he’s admiring how much potential something could have, if only it tried harder (That fly stuck between the window and the screen, for example. It was one “hell of a buzzing fuck with plenty of potential if only he had put that energy into the right areas. Instead of laying on it’s back spiraling in endless circles that will never go any fucking where, it could have been learning to take flight off forwards instead of backwards, like any other normal fucking being does. Birds included”). Karkat was inspirational in his own, odd way. He always seemed pretty upbeat about most to all situations, even if his mouth had betrayed him. He may sound like he doesn’t care, but the sparkle and passion inside of his red-tinged eyes show otherwise.  
  
Texting Karkat to confirm that they were still going downtown that afternoon, Dave grabs a glass out of one of the wooden cabinets and sets it down on top of the cheap counter. Opening the fridge, he grabs a large bottle of apple juice off of the shelf and unscrews the cap. Pouring the blood, sweat, and tears from red apples into the large glass, his phone buzzes, causing him to spill some of his drink. “Fuck,” Dave mumbles under his breath. As he cleans up the small mess, he checks his phone at the same time and sees the texts from Karkat confirming that he was still planning on meeting Dave around three that afternoon. Grinning, Dave leaves his phone on the countertop and heads off towards his bedroom.  
  
Leaving his door ajar, he takes a quick glance around the room. Pictures from his first photography class in high school litters one wall of his room, along with pictures that he had taken in his first photography class from college. Unique angles of skyscrapers, and of barn coop aloes are taped to the mahogany walls surrounding a light switch. Multiple prints of the same Mustang Cobra in different filters are hung above the side of his bed, along with pictures of clouds in different colors. A sword is hung above the head of the bed, and a picture of him and Dirk is taped lazily next to it.  
  
Walking towards the back corner of his room, he maneuvers his way around to the back of his turntables and plops himself onto the black drum stool behind them. Reaching underneath the table, he flicks the switch of his amp to ‘on’, and grabs his red headphones off of the small box, flexing them a few times before securing them over his ears. Hearing a faint buzzing sound, he smiles wryly. Sitting upwards, he clasps his hands hands together and stretches them forwards, cracking them. “Fuck yes, this bitch is ready to go,” Dave whispers, his eyelids beginning to droop.

xxx

“Dave?”  
  
No responce.  
  
“Dave?” Karkat repeats, louder this time. ‘ _Where is he?_ ’ he thinks, as he tries the doorknob to the apartment. Seeing as it’s unlocked, he takes this as an invite to come inside of the small room. At first, he’s taken aback at how tidy it is. For some reason, he had figured that Dave wasn’t the type of guy to be organized. Obviously, he had thought wrong. He found that Dave was the complete opposite. The room was almost completely picked up, except for a coffee table in front of the living room couch, which had sketchbooks, pencils, and loose papers scattered across it. Besides that though, the apartment looked clean enough.  
  
Kicking his shoes off before entering further, he wearily peaks his head around a corner and into the open kitchen. Seeing Dave’s phone on the table, he notes that this is probably why Dave wasn’t responding to his numerous texts saying that he was waiting for him on the street out front. Shrugging it off, he continues deeper into Dave’s headquarters. Noticing a door slightly opened at the end of the short hallway, he peaks inside.  
  
There, sitting in the corner of his room, is Dave. His head is bobbing ever so slightly, his eyes closed. He’s mumbling under his breath, and one of his feet is tapping on the carpeted floor. His left hand is running along the top of a large disk, and alternating to the different knobs attached to the table. His other hand holds a pencil, and scribbles messy letters across a piece of paper. He grumbles, and flips the pencil with ease, and erases a large proportion of the script. Shaking his head, he adjusts another knob, and the corner of his mouth turns upwards.  
  
To Karkat, watching Dave is mesmerizing. The way that he taps the end of the pencil along with the beat of his foot when he isn’t chewing lightly on it is intriguing to look at. How Dave is hunched over his turntables, and is able to look so relaxed, but at the same time he looks so incredibly awake and alert. If he were to use any word to describe Dave at that very moment in time, it would be ‘elated’.  
  
Clearing his throat, he sees Dave jump.  
  
“Holy shit, no, dude, what do you think you’re doing? Nobody has permission to sneak up on a Strider, especially not a Strider that is _this_ cool.” Oh look, the impossible Dave Strider is rambling. A habit that Karkat noticed Dave resorts too when he happens to feel flustered. For some reason, he believes that if he talks enough, maybe, just _maybe_ he can go back in time and change things so that he was never caught off guard. Too bad for Striders though, because time travel doesn’t exist.  
  
“Whatever. You ready to head out?” Karkat skims the room, and admires each photograph tapped and hung on the walls.  
  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m ready. Just let me grab a few things and I’ll meet you out front in a minute, okay?” Karkat chuckles. Dave obviously is not ready in the slightest, but why should he care.  
  
Obliging his request, the black haired boy turns around and leaves the apartment building. Dave, on the other hand, is flustered. _’Holy shit, I didn’t realize how late it was getting…’_ Grabbing a red sweatshirt and pulling it over his head, he enters the kitchen and takes a swig out of his previously poured apple juice. Sliding his phone off of the counter, he cringes slightly when he sees the seven missed text messages from Karkat. Shrugging it off, he stuffs the cellular device into his hoodie’s pocket, while he begins to cram his feet into his sneakers. Not bothering to tie his laces, he leaves the apartment locking the door, and pocketing the keys.  
  
Skipping every couple of stairs down to the ground level, he manages to trip twice (and luckily catch himself) before deciding that maybe he should take the extra minute and tie his shoes. _’Karkat can wait. Besides, it’s doubtful that he would want to bring me to the emergency room because I broke my nose,”_ Dave chuckles at the thought, and bends down to tie his shoes.  
  
Once Dave is outside, he spots Karkat sitting on a park bench across the street. Jogging down the crosswalk, he makes his way over to his friend.  
  
“So, where do you wanna go first?” Dave questions, as he leans slightly on a nearby light post, presumably catching his breath. Karkat looks him over, making Dave shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. He hates it when people look at him like this. It makes him feel as if they can see through him, and into his soul. Or at least Karkat’s intense eyes make him feel that way. Seeing him shrug to his question, Dave walks over to him and sits down on the bench. “Well, we could go down like we planned too, and hit up some stores, or go out for lunch again, or-“  
  
“What about the beach? We could go swimming.” Dave visibly stiffens at this idea. “What? You were the one who suggested to go like a week ago. Why the sudden change in thought?”  
  
“Oh, no reason. I just heard that there’s going to be thunder showers later today. It’s not safe to be in the water when it’s storming, you know that, right?” He’s tapping his right leg on the ground now, and is clenching his jaw. Deciding to not push the idea any further, Karkat just nods his head.  
  
“Well, do you want to hit up a museum maybe?”  
  
“Sure. Let’s go look at some ironic paintings made up of colorful lines. Sounds like a good idea to me.” Dave appears to be nearly emotionless hidden behind his tinted sunglasses.  
  
“I’m going to assume that you are not being sarcastic, but that you instead meant that sentence to be enthusiastic. Cram your doucheness back down your throat for a few hours, okay?” Karkat is raising his black articulated eyebrows, in an unimpressed look. “If you don’t want to go to a museum, just say so.”  
  
“Nah, museums are cool. I’m just pulling your leg is all. Let’s hit this shit up.”


	5. 1964 Pontiac GTO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long time no see!
> 
> This fic is still alive and doing well! I've got some great ideas that are coming up for future chapters. If any of you guys have any suggestions or want to see something happen (possibly), let me know!

“I don’t want to fucking hear it, Dirk!” By this point, Dave is close to shouting. Firstly, for his older brother to let himself inside of Dave’s small apartment unannounced was not okay. To top it off, Dirk was trying to persuade him to change his life. Dave wanted to do music, and he was sure that Dirk had wanted him to become a neurosurgeon of some sorts. “You’re one to talk! You never even went to college, and you live on a fucking ranch!” He’s fuming, borderline incoherent, and is no longer self conscious if the outside world can hear him at the moment.  
“Whoa, there, Dave, calm down. I-“  
  
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do! Just stop it already, I’m an adult, I can manage my life by myself. I don’t need your help, or anyone else for that matter.” Dirk lets out a long sigh, and looks at the deep red carpet. He kicks his toe into it a bit, and scratches at the back of his neck. Visibly slouching, he sticks both hands into the pockets of his beige tank top sweatshirt.  
“Listen, Dave, please. Just for once, just listen to me.” Dave is silent, glaring at his older brother from behind his shades. “Okay… so. I know you’re not appreciating the fact that I kind of barged in here-“  
  
“Kind of?!”  
  
“Shut up. That’s not the point.” Another glare from Dirk’s little brother, this time with an indignant snort. “I came here to ask you to spend a weekend at my place. You may not believe it, but I miss you. I know that you’re stressed out, and I just want you to try and relax for a bit. Maybe? I’m not asking for you to change anything.” Dave is no longer menacingly at Dirk’s head, but is instead shifting on his feet uncomfortably.  
  
“‘M sorry I acted the way that I did. I thought you were going to complain to me about my college major, like dad does.”  
  
“What? God no. Honestly, Dave, I’m pretty sure dad just wants to see you succeed. I think he feels like he fucked up bad with me. I mean, you’re right. I never did go to college, and my passions are an endless money pit. I’m also gay as fuck, wear stupid anime shades, and can’t even cook if it were to save my life.” Dave has begun to shrink in on himself. His head is facing in another direction, avoiding where Dirk is standing in front of him. He feels uncomfortable, and it’s noticeable. “I’m the let down, not you. So get over yourself, and start talking to me again. I miss you.”  
  
“Alright, fine, whatever. I miss you, too. But my grudge against dad isn’t going to stop anytime soon. When he stops being a complete donkey dick, then I’ll talk to him. But no sooner.” Chuckling, Dirk messes up Dave’s hair with his hand. He swats his arm away, and backs off. Dirk just snickers some more, and invites himself to sit down on Dave’s couch.  
  
“So what’s new with you, little man? Care to enlighten me?”  
  
“Actually, I do care. I would rather not inform you on what I’ve been up too as of lately.” Arching an eyebrow, Dirk shrugs his shoulders. After all, who’s he to expect anything less from Dave. He begins to sip at the can of orange soda that he brought with him, and looks around the small room. Being the observant type, he immediately notices a new picture strewn aside of the coffee table, that was not there when he had previously visited (Announced, yet again. This time went far more better though. There was no strifing of any kind). The photo isn’t inside of a frame yet, and it looks like it was developed very recently. A boy that looks Dave’s age has his arms around a fluffy black cat, and the two of them are glaring daggers at the camera. The cat’s eyes are a brilliant shade of yellow, and it’s pupils are the opposite of dilated- they’re slits that are smaller than a paper cut. The cat looks royally pissed off at the world, and Dirk is surprised that it’s allowing the boy to hold him. As for the boy just mentioned- his hair is the same shade of the cat’s, and is just as fluffy. It looks soft, as well as his facial features. His nose is small and gentle, as well as chin and ears. He has barely noticeable freckles across his nose that Dirk is surprised that the camera caught. His lips are small and look soft as well, and Dirk would call them kissable if that was the type of guy that he was into (He isn’t though, he’s more into sharper angle sort of guys, with strong jawlines and a sense for adventure). The boy’s eyes are even more brilliant than the cat’s- they’re red. A true, deep red, like the color of Dave’s carpet. His eyes are serious, and the only words that Dirk can think of to describe them as are “cold as ice”, except that they’re the wrong color. His eyes are ablaze, and intense.  
  
After he’s decided that he’s done enough rubbernecking over the picture, he looks up at Dave. “When did you take this?”  
  
“Uh, only a few days ago. Why?”  
  
“It’s different. I’ve never seen you do a piece like this before. I like the fact that you made it entirely in black and white, except for the eyes. It really enhances them. I like it.”  
  
“Thanks. I think the emphasis really captured both of their attitudes…”  
  
“For sure. Who is this kid, anyways?” Dave’s next answer is flustered, and his cheeks are blushing a faint red. Normally not being one to blush, Dirk can tell that Dave’s got a soft spot for the one in the picture, even if Dave himself doesn't know it yet.  
  
“His name is Karkat. He just moved here, he’s pretty chill.” Dave is looking to the ceiling now, and biting the skin around his nails.  
  
“This is a really excellent picture of him. Good job.” Dave mutters his thanks, and heads into the kitchen.  
  
Grabbing a box of apple juice, he begins sipping it as he leans on the countertop. _’I can’t believe Dirk is okay with what I’m doing… and he isn’t mad at me…’_ Dave thinks. He had always thought that Dirk was acting cold towards Dave because he wanted him to do better. He never thought that their dad was making Dirk feel more of a failure than Dave himself was feeling. Now he just feels like shit for not putting Dirk’s emotions or his situation into the equation. _’God, I can be such an airhead sometimes,’_ Dave is mentally kicking himself. Why would he make assumptions like that?  
  
Remembering that he has a guest inside of the house (even if he was never invited in), he returns to the front room. Seeing no sign of Dirk, Dave circles around to the front of the couch. A small notecard is placed on top of the coffee table, with orange pen scrawled across it. ‘Dave, nice seeing you again. Like I said, you should come visit me at my bungalow sometime. Just let me know before you do. -Dirk” underneath the message was his phone number, as well as his address may Dave ever want to write to him via the old fashioned way. Looking back up from the note, Dirk is nowhere to be seen. He will never understand how he disappears so silently like that, almost as if he was never there to begin with. 

  


xxx

  


_“Are you sure that this is a good idea?”_  
  
“Well of course it is, Karbro. Why wouldn’t it be?”  
  
Leaning his head outside of the purple car’s window, Karkat investigates the nearly empty parking lot. There were three, maybe four cars littered across it. They were all parked silently, with their lights off, and no owners to be seen around them. The lights to the grocery store were off as well, except for the overheads, which beamed outwards, illuminating only a few hundred feet onto the black pavement. Small bugs and large moths could be seen fluttering under them, even from Karkat’s place inside of the old 1964 Pontiac GTO. Chirpers could be heard from afar, croaking their love songs into the night, over the rumbling from the muscle car. Nothing was more wonderful than going for a joy ride at one in the morning, with one of your best friends in the heat of the summer.  
  
Turning his head back to look at the driver, Karkat sees Gamzee slouched into his leather seat. His left elbow is propped on the window sill, while his hand is holding his head up. His fingers are entangled into the insane mop of black hair that lays atop of the tan teenagers head. His right arm is outstretched and long, and is steering the car around lazily. Eventually, they pull into a parking space about three quarters of the way into the back of the lot, aways from the large building. Leaving the windows down, Gamzee shifts into park, and turns the engine off. Swinging open their doors, both boys exit the car, and peer over the roof at one another.  
  
Gamzee is smiling from ear to ear, wickedly. His eyes are shut, and he’s nodding his head yes, as if confirming to Karkat that ‘yeah bro, we really are _going to follow through with this’. Karkat just shakes his head back and forth, as if coming to terms with what was about to actually happen._  
  
Walking towards the front of the building, they spot their target almost immediately. They make a beeline for it, and pick up their pace. Gamzee’s long legs help him to reach the shopping cart first, and he grabs ahold of it, swinging it around towards Karkat.  
  
“Bro! Check it out! Isn’t she a beauty?!” If it’s even possible, Gamzee’s smile has grown. He chuckles and starts wheeling the cart towards him, stopping. “Hop on in, my brother! Let’s take this baby for a ride!”  
  
Climbing aboard, Karkat barely has enough time to get his last leg into the cart before Gamzee has already started to push off. Toppling the rest of the way into it, Karkat manages to sit upright as quickly as he can, and grabs the side of the cart. His legs are scrunched up into his chest, and the draw strings of his black hoodie are fluttering ever so slightly in the breeze. His hair is flying from the wind as well, and his eyes are open, tearing up a little from the sudden dryness. He begins to smile as he throws his hands into the air, and lets out a yell of triumph. Gamzee joins in, and soon both the boys are laughing into the night.  
  
Shaking his head, Karkat chuckles to himself. He still has a hard time believing that the two of them managed to jam the shopping cart into the back of Gamzee’s two seated car. He still has a hard time believing that they stole a shopping cart. _He stole a shopping cart._ It still baffled him that they did indeed follow through with the act. It was the first thing that he had stolen, as well as the last. Karkat felt no need to take anything else. Only the cart.  
  
Just the cart.  
  
Sighing, he rests his head into his hands. Man, did he miss that clown of a guy sometimes. He was defiantly a trouble maker, but admittedly, he _was_ fun _as fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am also planning on doing art of the Karkat Picture mentioned above. It will be linked to my deviant art or my tumblr!


	6. Obnoxious People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always wanted a roof that I could climb up on and be alone. Maybe some point in my life I will have one. Who knows. Enjoy this chapter~

For the entirety of music theory, the obnoxious laughing from the back of the room kept interrupting Dave’s thoughts. He would be so damn _close_ to finding the correct note that went together just so perfectly with the rest, then he would hear _him_ again. That deep, barking laughter that was annoying as dingle berries would fill his ears no matter how secure and expensive that his headphones were.  
  
Finally, he had had enough. Pushing his chair out from underneath him, he closes his laptop and stuffs it into his bag. Nodding to his teacher to signal his absence, he exits the room. A nice thing about being in college was the fact that the teachers didn’t particularly care weather or not you came to class. As long as you knew what you were doing, you technically didn’t have to show up at all, except for exams. You just may not do as well as others who actually show up and learn once or twice a week.  
  
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he checks the time. There was only about ten or fifteen minutes of class left. Exiting the large, brick building, Dave enters the outside world.  
  
Making his way off campus, he starts down the streets keeping to himself. He feels frustrated from his last class. He hadn’t made much progress on his current piece during it. If he had just stayed home he probably would have gotten more done. _’That idiot should just stay home. I bet he’s failing the class anyways. No need to make everyone else’s life’s suck,’_ Grumbling, Dave shakes his head. _’Don’t let this bother you. You’re better than this._ ’ the corners of his mouth lift a little, and Dave nods. He looks up from the sidewalk and sees his apartment in sight.  
  
Entering the building, Dave begins his trek up the staircase. Instead of getting out on his level, he continues upwards until he’s reached the rooftop. Letting himself through the heavy metal door, he’s greeted by wind and the smell of the salty sea water off of the coast. He closes it behind him with a hefty click, and turns around.  
  
Seagulls are perched on top of one of the smoke stacks and squawking at one another. Two others are on the ground underneath it, and are fighting over a piece of scrawny fish ass like it was the best food that they had ever tasted. It probably was, but that’s none of Dave’s business. He didn’t come up here to take the birds out to a nice five star restaurant, and he wasn’t planning on feeding them. Birds were revolting creatures, and they always seemed to be around him. It was like Dave had omitted a smell that attracted birds to him just so he could tell them all to ‘go and fuck themselves sideways over a trashcan. Better yet, why not in the dump at the west end of town?’. Kicking his shoes and socks off, Dave makes his way over to the edge of the roof with light foot work. He glances down, and sees the bustling streets below him. He sits himself down, cross legged mind you, and looks back up, to the other roofs, to watch the sunset.  
  
Surprisingly, there’s a boy looking back at him.  
  
“What the fuck?!” Dave startles, jumping backwards (and very thankfully not forwards). He shifts his weight back to his center, balancing himself back out. ‘ _Shit, that was so not cool’._  
  
“Hahaha, hey, Dave! Surprise seeing you here!” The dirty blond chuckles across the road to him. One of his long, lanky arms is waving over his head at him, a friendly gesture to say hello. He’s flexing his fingers as well, as if he were playing the piano. ‘What a fucking idiot”. If Dave weren’t pissed off because of his lack of progress made on his song during his last class, he probably would have waved back in some form. _Probably._ Instead, he answers as politely as he can.  
  
“What the hell are you doing on that roof over there?!”  
  
“I could ask you the same exact thing!” That sentence was utterly butchered by the other boy’s lisp. His chuckling that seeped through his words didn’t help it, either.  
  
“I live here. What’s _your_ excuse?” Dave responds, all but kindly. He usually got along with Sollux, but right now he _really_ had needed some alone time. Being a road and two sidewalk distances away from another person evidently wasn’t enough, and he really didn’t want to hear a nasally, sarcastic voice at the moment.  
  
“The wifi connection is a lot better when the router is located on the roof. Did I also mention that it’s even nicer when you can hack into it, and get it for free? Like honestly, it’s _so_ hilarious how easy some people’s passwords are to pick. Like who even thinks that using their last name is a good idea anymore?”  
  
“Was it ever a good idea to begin with?” he ponders out loud, with zero guilt of speaking what was on his mind. After all, Dave usually said what he was thinking. He didn’t exactly have the best filter on his mouth. Speaking of filters, Sollux was lisping out a “thit load” of curses.  
  
“The fuck no. I just still find it shocking, is all. Enough with the idle chit chat though. I know of a dank party that’s coming up at the end of this month located at Aradia’s hoe of a sister’s house. She lives about twenty minutes away from here. She needs a new shitty DJ. She seemed to have a falling out of some sorts with the last one. You in?”  
  
“Only if it’s just the DJ part. How much will she pay?” He hollers over the sound of the traffic below them.  
  
“I believe she said around seventeen bucks per hour? If you don’t do it, I can get somebody else too. I just thought I would ask you because I know you could use a little extra money, with living on your own and all.” Dave is feeling a little surprised that Sollux had thought of him, let alone remembered that Dave’s electric bill was high because of his tech.  
  
“Yeah, sure. I’ll do it.”  
  
“Alright, sweet! KK is defiantly going to be there, as well as TZ, I believe. I’m actually surprised that either one hasn’t said anything to you yet.” Dave shrugs, and Sollux nods once in his direction. “Well, I’ll let you get back to sulking on top of that roof top over there alone. I’ve got a hot date to attend too.” This manages to get a small ‘hmmph’ of a laugh out of Dave, which Sollux grins at.

  



	7. He's still fucking grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic still exists, my lovelies! So sorry it took so long to get updated, life's been kinda hectic as always. Anyways, enjoy this chapter and I will see you all soon~

After tall, blond and lispy had left, Dave truly began to start relaxing. It was almost nine at night, and the sky was exiting the blue hues to new colors, involving pink and orange variants. Few clouds were left sparsely scattered across it, and the appearing of stars had just begun. The half moon could be seen faintly during the day, but now it was illuminating, taking on it’s full potential at dusk.  
  
Stretching backwards, Dave lays on his back with his arms behind his head. His bare feet just barely hung over the edge of the roof, he could feel the slightly warm breeze between his toes. He wiggles them all at once, and then separately. Moving his attention away from the feet fingers, Dave focuses his attention back onto the sky. Above him he can see many constellations. They had always fascinated him. He took an astronomy class in high school thinking that he would enjoy it, and he had the complete opposite experience. The teacher’s personality was like a box of rocks, and for three quarters of the class he would go on shpiels about old dead dudes, like Ptolemy and Copernicus. After that sorry incident, Dave kept his fascination with space to himself and learned what he knew about it on his own. He taught himself how to use a star map and a telescope. He didn’t want to cheat by using free apps on his phone that pointed out what constellations were over his head, instead he wanted to be as genuine as possible about his knowledge. He wanted to know how and where exactly to find each one, including the harder ones, like Hercules. Dave wanted to be able to inform his friends about what existed beyond earth all on his own, and have it be an enjoyable experience at that (That wouldn’t be lectures about old dead farts). Not only did he want to share his information with his friends, but also with possible romantic interests.  
  
Speaking of those, Dave had always wanted to kiss his partner under the stars late at night. He was a secret romantic sap, and he would deny it until death do him apart (Unless of course he had a date, which they would more than likely figure out Dave’s secret sooner rather than later). He wanted to go to the beach at night, and head out to his special area over there. The place that he’s never shown anyone. Nothing about it deemed ‘special’ or different from the rest of the beach. The only unique thing about the area was the fact that it was close to the highway leading out of the city, so rarely anyone ever went over there. None the less, Dave still held the area close to his heart. There were large black rocks that lined the banks by the road of many sizes. Big rocks that could hold two people and could comfortably sit on them and point at stars in the night, and lean in for a kiss when the time deemed right. Small rocks that were flat enough for tossing into the water and making them skip across the glassy surface.  
  
Slowly coming back from his dream bubble of thoughts, Dave realizes that he feels much more relaxed than when he had arrived on the roof earlier. Feeling accomplished with his progress on his happy meter, Dave begins to stand up and stretch his limbs out. Making a soft grunt from the strenuous effort, he turns around and begins to head back indoors.  
  
Once he’s reached his floor, he exits the stairwell trying his best to hold back the door from making a loud and annoying noise that signals his presence. He does this for one reason in particular.  
  
To not be a giant fucking douchenozzle and wake up the entire level that he lives on.  
  
With that being said, the light blond makes his way down the hall and into his own apartment. Opening the door with a soft click, he scoots into the dark room. Closing the door behind him, the light that once flooded onto the floor is engulfed by darkness.  
  
Everything felt so quiet and so still. Shuffling through the dark, Dave makes his way over to his couch and plops himself onto it. Sinking into the cushions, he props his feet up on the coffee table and thinks over the day’s events. Earlier that morning, him and Karkat had met up at a local park and went hiking. They pointed at butterflies in the sky and pet other hikers dogs (One of which Dave had wanted to steal, but Karkat had eventually talked him out of it). Dave jokingly picked Karkat a flower, which he was highly offended by. Evidently, the little spit fire knows all of the endangered plant species around the area and what is and isn’t illegal to pick. All in all, he was not impressed in the slightest with his newly obtained white trillium. After the flower dilemma, they decided to head back home. Karkat wanted to find his new plant a vase and some water, while Dave had needed to get to his class.  
  
Pulling out his phone, he sees that still has a few unread messages from Dirk. Dave pushes his fingers through his hair as he lets out a large sigh. ‘ _These are from almost a week ago, maybe I should stop putting this off and open them,_ ’. Tapping on his brother’s name, he begins to read the messages that he was procrastinating over.  
  
“Little man,” The first one read, “I think we need to spend more time together. You should come out and visit me at my ranch. I think you’d really like it here, as well as the company.” Dave thinks about how much his older brother talks about his new farm hand, Jake. Evidently, he found the “fella” hitchhiking on the side of the freeway.  
  
xxx  
  
_Downshifting into third, all that Dirk is thinking is_ ‘I can’t believe I’m actually doing this’. _Throwing his right directional on, he rolls his eyes as he sees the man actually give him double pistols with his fingers._ ‘Did he just fucking wink at me, too?’ _Dirk scoffs, while impatiently tapping his fingers on the shifter as he reaches second, and shortly after, first gear. It’s a windy day outside, and the guy’s deep green jacket is flapping in it. The hood flew up over his disheveled black hair, and he’s struggling real hard to get it to stay out of his face. All the while, he’s still grinning like a maniac and waving to his rescuer._  
  
_Rolling down his passenger side window, Dirk beckons him in the car with “This is the worst idea I’ve ever had” greeting. Dusty black hair and dirt face pretty much falls into the front seat, still wearing his large backpack behind his shoulders. With the help of the wind, he slams his door shut. Looking back towards Dirk, he’s_ still fucking grinning.  
  
_“‘Ello there, Chap!” He looks at Dirk with brilliant green eyes behind his boxy glasses._ ’What the actual fuck…’ _Dirk ponders._  
  
_Evidently he thought out loud because he’s now got a cackling and snorting hitchhiker in the passenger seat of his car. “I like you! Why say, what’s your name?” He backtracks quickly when he sees the look of discontent and confusion on the driver’s face. “Oh, by golly, I am sorry! I completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jake! Jake English, to be exact!”_  
  
_“It’s great to meet you Jake, I’m Dirk,” he responds in a monotone voice, shifting his eye sight up to his mirrors rather than continuing to look at Jake’s face. “So tell me about yourself. What are you doing out here?” Flopping his limbs around, Jake manages to get his bag off of his back and into his lap. From there, he crams it into the back of the car not caring that it crowded into Dirk’s personal space, or that it toppled lopsided onto the seat._  
  
_“Well you see, I am an adventurer! I tend to travel quite often, far and wide. I just left the big city about a month and a half ago”._ ‘Looks like more’ Dirk adds, _“and I am honestly having such a blast out here! I’m starting to become bored though, and want to find a place to crash. I’m thinking maybe I can be a grill cook and sleep in the basement of somebody’s house. What do you think?”_  
  
_“I think that idea fucking sucks.” Dirk says pointedly. His only response is mad laughter._ ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have picked this kid up…’ _he questions himself._  
  
_After Jake gets his shit together, he continues babbling. “I know it’s a stretch, but it’s a possibility! I’ve also considered finding other places that need help, even if it’s not in the area of my expertise. There’s only one thing that I’m pretty damn good at, and it’s grilling a burger. My gator burgers are pristine, I tell you, pristine.”_  
  
_“I bet they are.”_  
  
_“But I think I might enjoy working at an animal shelter, I do love me some good doggos! I like the big ones, in particular. I enjoy a good shepard, you?”_  
  
_“I’m more of a horse kind of person.”_  
  
_“Oh, my! They are exquisite creatures, are they not? That would be_ another _job that I would love to have! Working as a farm hand on a ranch.” Dirk’s eyebrows perk up at the mention of him wanting to experience a labored life._  
  
_“I’ve got a ranch. Could use a hand if you’re serious.” Now it was Jake’s turn for his eyebrows to lift up. His entire being elevated even more so, which Dirk didn’t know could be physically possible. Receiving some flustered “Oh goodies!” and all too wide smiles, Dirk wonders weather or not picking up this hitchhiker was a good idea._  
  
xxx  
  
Emerging back into reality, Dave shakes his head. He taps out a response to Dirk on the screen of his phone, then opens Karkat’s contact. Wondering if it’s too weird and clingy to invite Karkat back over tonight after they had hung out earlier today, he decides to promptly fuck it and send Karkat the invite anyways.  
  
_'YOU KNOW WHAT? WHY THE FUCK NOT. I’LL BE OVER IN AN HOUR OR TWO. OR MAYBE THREE. EITHER WAY DON’T GET YOUR PANTIES IN A TWIST IF IM NOT THERE AT EIGHT PM SHARP.'_  
  
With a silent root, Dave gets his ass in gear and begins tidying up his apartment. It was already fairly clean besides the kitchen table and living room couch, which was hidden under a short pile of clean laundry. Deciding to start off by folding his laundry, he plugs in his earbuds and listens to some “sick beats” that he had recently finished for the party at Damara’s house.  
  
Smelling each sweater, he comes to the conclusion that all but two of them are clean enough to be hung back up in his closest. _’What the hell is wrong with this cheap ass complex? Who even buys the cheapest detergent? More money would be saved if those cheap, obtuse fuckers only had to put their laundry through once in order to have their clothes come out clean…”_ after silently fuming to himself, Dave heads into the kitchen where he shuffles papers together and crams them into notebooks. Putting the few dishes that he had on the table into the sink, he grabs a sponge and wipes down the counters. Seeming to be thoroughly impressed with himself, He leaves the kitchen and heads to the bathroom for a shower.


End file.
